DON'T TOUCH MY JUNK: Best of the TSA body search cartoons [*Updated]

By
Michael Cavna

It's an emotional, hot-button brouhaha that -- like some happy-handed grand poobah of airport pat-downs -- pretty much touches us all.

From actual body scans to John Tyner's sudden "folk hero" status -- his four-word rebel yell striking a deeper chord in our current cultural junk -- the TSA controversy is largely about images. And some of those images, frankly, are as arresting as Mr. Tyner's testy threat.

As disgruntled fliers gear up for this Wednesday's National Opt-Out Day, some cartoonists are finding inspiration in tapping that all-too-transparent anger: The TSA is seeing our T&A! The pat-down is becoming a Constitutional putdown! And when all is scanned and done, Mr. or Ms. Official Body Searcher, what are you doing this Saturday night?

In these touchy times, the only right flotation device for our national psyche, of course, is humor. As in: What if we could choose our own romantic tune to set the mood for this act of Qantas Interruptus? What if we could talk blue to JetBlue? And what if Southwest suddenly were as come-hither as Mae West, as body scanners give a new, quite literal meaning to "Come up and see me sometime"?

Fortunately, from "leer jets" to to "XXX-rays" to "macking on the tarmac," cartoonists have scanned the debate for suspiciously keen sources of comedy. So here they are, our favorite TSA cartoons so far: